Financials have been a strong driver of the rally in stocks so far this year, but one bet in the options market sees them stalling out.

The S&P 500 Financials sector has been by far the best performing of 10 industry sectors this month, adding 7.8%, while the S&P 500 itself gained 3.9%, and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund is one pace to finish Thursday at a more than 4 1/2 year high. Read More »

After a strong start to the year, financial stocks are rolling over and the charts are looking dicey for the SPDR Financial ETF (XLF), the most popular exchange traded fund tracking the sector.

The catalyst has been earnings news depicting some of the largest banks struggling to grow their earnings even as the lingering negative effects of the financial crisis fade. Falling into that camp has been J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo and, with this morning’s earnings reports, Bank of America. Read More »